MINI MAC

[slowcentury]

So it's time to get rid of my PC and go Mac. Looking at my options the Mini Mac seems pretty amazing considering the price. Does anyone out there use one of these to record? Despite not having a disc drive I can't really see a draw back. Please debunk this for me! Thx!

[kslight]

The biggest drawback is the limited expandability...but if you got the one with dual hard drives one Firewire port shouldn't be that big of a deal.

[Jeff White]

You can easily daisy-chain interface--->drive--->Mac Mini. It's fast as hell. For $79 (or less) you can get a USB DVD/CD burner. It has Thunderbolt, so when that becomes de facto for audio interfaces/drives/etc you can daisy-chain everything together with a monitor. Totally kick-ass little computer.

I recently bought a MBP for my day job/recording but honestly I could have easily gotten away with saving $1200 and done the Quad Mini. I may replace my G5 with one eventually.

Also, you can always insert a UAD-2 on the firewire bus for some nice plug-in action.

Jeff

[chorga1]

They are basically the same thing as the current (unibody) macbooks without a cd drive, display or keyboard.


Get the server edition with quad-core i7 and 2 hdds. You will not be disappointed. The built-in graphics card is fine for audio work.



Just make sure your software works with OSX 10.7 - Lion.

[John Jeffers]

Unless you really need something now and can't wait, don't buy a Mac right now. The whole line is going to be revised in the next couple of months due to Intel releasing the new "Ivy Bridge" chips.

This is a good site to check out before buying a Mac:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

You'll notice that they have "Don't Buy" ratings on all of the Mac desktop line.

[slowcentury]

Awesome! Thanks a ton! I wont be buying right away, I still have to figure out if im going to change my setup or not... Go UA Apollo or just mod my 003. I have no idea what to do to be honest. To many options!

[Galen Ulrich Elfert]

I wonder about that logic. Because the current line has been around for a while, that also means it's the most thoroughly tested. All the little kinks that inevitably appear in a new line have been ironed out in small revisions. This might be the best time to buy if you want a stable machine that will last a long time.
That's what I'm telling myself anyway, as I need to replace my macbook right now.

[Snarl 12/8]

So it's time to get rid of my PC and go Mac.

I'm kindof curious why. It might affect the determination of whether the mini will suit you.

[John Jeffers]

I wonder about that logic. Because the current line has been around for a while, that also means it's the most thoroughly tested. All the little kinks that inevitably appear in a new line have been ironed out in small revisions. This might be the best time to buy if you want a stable machine that will last a long time.
That's what I'm telling myself anyway, as I need to replace my macbook right now.

That's not a bad way to look at it, but even if so, it still makes sense to wait if you can. When the new models come out, you can pick up one of the previous generation models used or refurb and save a bunch of money.

[Snarl 12/8]

Well, you should almost always wait as long as you can to buy any computer type equipment. Not just Macs. Although it seems like Apple has more than the usual number of people trying to time their purchases just right. It'll either be better, or cheaper, later. Unless you're like me and a "late adopter." I often buy things as they (or their parts (such as RAM)) are getting more expensive. But eventually you gotta buy something, and that's when you should buy it.